Team Gleason Experiment – Peru – April 2013

Team Gleason has embarked on an epic adventure in Peru. pALS Steve Gleason and Kevin Swan along with Michel, Rivers, Scott Fujita, the NFL Film crew and Team Gleason members have started their 7 day trek in Lima. The group will then fly to Cuzco visit the Cathedral, Qoricancha Temple, the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman overlooking Cuzco, Qenko and Puka Pukara. Next excursion is to the beautiful Urubamba, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, situated between Pisac and Ollantaytambo. It is an exceptionally fertile valley that was and remains the larder of Cuzco. They will then visit the village of Pisac, founded during the colonial times, and set at the foot of a hill crowned by the remains of an ancient Inca city. They will continue the trip through the countryside town of Urubamba to the ruins of Ollantaytambo. On Day 4 they catch the Vistadome train headed to Machu Picchu, taking in stunning views of the mountains and head into high altitude cloud forest. The destination, the Machu Picchu gateway town of Aguas Calientes, is reachable only by train or air and is nestled among stunning steep mountains shrouded in cloud forest. They will start the Royal Incan trail by crossing a hanging bridge over the Urubamba River to approach the Inca archaeological complex of Cachabamba. After a brief visit of this site they begin a four hour ascent to the ruins of Wiñay Wayna. At this point the trail joins with the main Inca Trail. From there they will be walking on Inca pavement. The Inca Trail cuts across the ridge above Machu Picchu to finally reach Intipunku or Gate of the Sun at 8,829 ft. From here the trail winds downhill into the lost citadel of Machu Picchu. Keep checking back to see post from Team Gleason.

The Team Gleason Experiment is a blog where we not only share Steve, Michel and Rivers' life adventures but also The Gleason Initiative Foundation funded adventures for ALS patients and events other Team Gleason friends are doing to raise public awareness. If you'd like to share a story please email 37@teamgleason.org.